Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Lady Tigers Avenge 2014 State Tourney Loss
PRAIRIE GROVE — Among the world of sports, a “do-over game” is best served fresh with spice.
Nearly one year to the day after blowing a 38-31 third quarter lead, suffering multiple turnovers and losing 59-52 to Brookland in a first-round March 7, 2014, State 4A girls basketball game; Prairie Grove reversed their fortunes with a 46-37 trouncing of Brookland in the state quarterfinals on Sunday.
Brookland, No. 2 seed from the East, returned the bulk of their squad while Prairie Grove graduated 2014 leading scorer Lacey Beeks as well as Abby Smith, Callie Robinson and Macie Kultgen, veterans from the 2013 state runner-up team; but this go-around was different.
There would be no fourthquarter meltdown against Brookland’s full-court pressure and while the Bearcats did a credible job of defending the perimeter, they lost track of Mattie Hartin at critical junctures. Held without a point in the first quarter, Mattie Hartin, notched 15 points over the final three periods and showcased her composure with a quartet of timely 3-pointers.
Prairie Grove led 10-7 after the first and neither team put any points on the board for the first two minutes and 10 seconds of the second quarter. Brookland had just switched into a 2-3 zone when Mattie Hartin made them pay with her first trifecta from the left wing for a 13-7 Lady Tiger lead. Brookland then fashioned a 9-2 run over a 2:15 stretch taking a 16-15 lead on Menley Long’s 3-pointer.
A f t e r C am r e e Bartholomew’s foul shots restored Prairie Grove to the lead, Mattie Hartin received a dish from her twin sister, Taylor Hartin, and promptly smacked any momentum Brookland hoped to sustain with another broadside from the right wing empowering Prairie Grove to hold onto a 20-16 halftime advantage.
In the third, Rachel Gramling took a rebound into the opposite jump circle where she canned a pull-up jumper cutting Prairie Grove’s margin to two. Parker Lopez had 10 points for the Lady Tigers and came away with a teammate’s miss, drawing a foul and making one free-throw. Then Taylor Hartin squared up from the right wing on a Bartholomew pass and snapped a trey doubling the lead, at 24-18 with just over five minutes remaining in the third. Later Mattie Hartin recorded her third trifecta on Lopez’ drive into the key and kick-out.
The shot was big because Brookland turned up the heat closing the period on a 6-0 run with consecutive steals and layups pulling to within, 29-26, at the end of the third. In 2014, Grambling came off the bench to score 11 of Brookland’s 18 fourth quarter points but this time she would only total 4 points for the game and Prairie Grove controlled the clock with solid ball-handling.
The teams traded scores before Mattie Hartin once more extended a 3-point Prairie Grove to six. Her fourth 3-point shot of the contest came from the left wing and was good for a 34-28 Lady Tiger cushion. Prairie Grove connected on 9 of 16 freethrows down the stretch but owned the game with sound defense and rebounding holding Brookland to 5 points over the last 3:37.
Four Lady Tigers scored in double figures topped by Bartholomew and Mattie Hartin with 13, while Taylor Hartin and Lopez each chipped in 10 points apiece. Long led Brookland with 19 points.
The victory set up a rematch from a week earlier against Ozark in the state semifinals.
“We are humbled by the amount of support this team has received,” wrote coach Kevin Froud in a letter posted by Prairie Grove Tigers on Facebook. The letter also signed by assistant coach Shelley Dougan states “Like every team before them this community again stepped up to support them and that is what it is all about.”